Yigal Amir Image by getty images

The brother of Yitzhak Rabin’s killer has said that the assassin gets along fine with jailed Hamas terrorists and sees “no difference” between himself and the sworn enemies of Israel.

Hagai Amir made the comment in his first interview since his release in May. His brother Yigal Amir, Rabin’s killer, is still in prison.

For Hagai Amir, being in the same bracket as terrorists isn’t troubling. Asked if he feels remorse for the killing, which was intended to derail the Oslo peace process and is widely thought to have succeeded, he replied: “Of course not. It didn’t just happen out of the blue. We thought about it for two years, we acted according to the Jewish halacha, and one must not regret doing a mitzvah.”

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He and his brother “did the only single act that could have been done at that particular point in time and in the conditions that were present.” He insisted: “We did not do it for us but for the Jewish people, simple as that, and behind the act was a good intention. At the end of the day, a good intention does not go to waste and it will bear fruits.” Asked is he is proud of his brother he replied “of course.”

Interestingly, the far-right religious zealot gave interview (which took place via online chats) to the self-described secular left-wing journalist Ami Kaufman of avowedly left-wing website +972, saying that he does not trust the “credibility” of better known and more centrist news sources.

In a short exchange that preceded the interview Amir said that his brother killed Rabin “not because of transferring land but because of the risk to Jewish life as a result of that.” And in the interview he said he’s not ready to stand with settlers who may face evacuations because “99% [of settlers] are not willing to fight, as you saw in the disengagement,” and they “are simple bourgeoisie, not tough rebels.”

Amir, who despite his stinging portrayal of settlers is today a former settler living in the stereotypically middle class Herziya, just north of Tel Aviv, said that he spent time in prison talking to Hamas convicts. Unsurprisingly they “didn’t agree” on the big questions, but “the atmosphere was relaxed, they respect us and we respect them and it is clear we are enemies on the outside, but for the meanwhile there is a ceasefire.”

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